Deng

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The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports: Former Bulls star Luol Deng said he was "pretty upset" over a New York Daily News report that he had told a "close friend" that the Cavaliers were "a mess. " Deng told the Plain Dealer that he doesn't "say anything outside of this locker room to my friends" and "none of my friends would ever talk to reporters. " Get the full story: Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND - When you spend close to a decade with a franchise, friendships form. A trade doesn't break those bonds. So, yes, Luol Deng went to dinner with former teammates Tuesday night. And then, just before the Bulls' 98-87 victory over the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena, Deng jogged over to hug coach Tom Thibodeau and assistant coach Adrian Griffin and shake hands with the rest of the Bulls' staff. Some things never change. "I had the NBA app and my home team was the Bulls and I've been trying to change it but I don't know how," Deng laughingly told reporters at the morning shootaround.

It seemed fitting that Tuesday marked the two-year anniversary of Luol Deng tearing a ligament in his left wrist. As he does with most matters, including Wednesday's Bulls-Cavaliers matchup, Deng tuned out any outside noise and focused on making himself and his team better. "I know a lot of (media) people said I should get surgery on my wrist," Deng told the Tribune in a recent interview. "But I always knew I could play through it and be effective. " Two All-Star berths, one uplifting representation of his adopted homeland at the 2012 Olympics and one gut-wrenching trade later, Deng should be vindicated.

In a question-and-answer column in Sunday's Cleveland Plain Dealer, a reader wanted to know how new Cavaliers forward Luol Deng stacked up at his position. "Where would you rank (Deng) among the top small forwards in the league today?" a Cavs fan named Anthony asked beat writer Mary Schmitt Boyer. The response made me pause as long as Deng might before one of his deliberate, thoughtful replies. "I would probably put him fourth, behind LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Paul George … and ahead of Rudy Gay," Schmitt Boyer wrote.

In the direct aftermath of his Jan. 7 trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Luol Deng said he hadn't thought about what it would be like to face the team for which he played for nine-plus seasons. His former Chicago Bulls teammates followed suit, saying they didn't want to think about what it would be like to face such a popular figure in the locker room until it happened. On Wednesday, it's happening. “I love Luol,” said Joakim Noah, who needed four days to address the trade publicly.

LOS ANGELES -- Luol Deng showed Tuesday why the Cavaliers paid a price to acquire him from the Bulls. Deng scored 27 points as Cleveland held off the Los Angeles Lakers for a 120-118 win. He shot 5-for-5 from 3-point range for Cleveland, which finished 13-of-17 from distance overall. Anderson Varejao added 18 points and 18 rebounds, Tristan Thompson had 15 points and 13 boards and Dion Waiters chipped in with 17 points off the bench for the Cavaliers, winners in three of their last four.

In the wake of the Luol Deng trade, which saved the Bulls roughly $20 million that management has said will be reinvested into basketball operations, players have been asked if they believe the organization remains committed to winning a championship. On Monday, it was coach Tom Thibodeau's turn. "Yeah, yeah," he said. "Hey, look, (Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf ) has owned the team for a long time. Not many people own two major sports franchises. So I think he has a very good understanding of winning and losing and what goes into it. "There are a lot of tough decisions that have to be made.

Joakim Noah broke his silence on the Luol Deng trade after the Bulls' fifth straight victory Saturday night, 103-97 over the Bobcats. The wait proved worth it. "The trade definitely hurt, but we have to move on," Noah said. "I feel confident in this team. We're working really hard. A lot of people say this is a business and all that. But this game is more than a business to me. I put everything I have into this. And I feel like Lu was the same way. "Everyone has a different job. I'm not mad at anybody, I'm not mad at the organization or anything like that.

The Sports Xchange Cavs welcome Deng with win SALT LAKE CITY -- Luol Deng loved what he saw in his debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The feeling is mutual from his new team. The recently traded small forward had a nice first game and point guard Kyrie Irving scored 25 points as the Cavaliers picked up a 113-102 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday night at EnergySolutions Arena. Irving also had eight assists, six rebounds and five steals, and Deng finished with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field four nights after being traded from Chicago to Cleveland in the Andrew Bynum deal.

Mike Dunleavy turned down more lucrative free-agent offers last summer to come off the bench, knock down jumpers alongside Derrick Rose and play for a winning team for the first time in his 11-year career. A potential one out of three isn't bad. Rose is injured. And now that Luol Deng has been traded, Dunleavy is starting. At 17-18, the Bulls could be headed to the playoffs with Dunleavy, for what would be just his third trip to the postseason. "This definitely isn't what any of us envisioned at the start of this season," Dunleavy said.